Protecting My Hart (Protectors Series Book 1) (38 page)

I haven’t let go of Hartley since the moment she took two steps and collapsed into my arms sobbing and completely terrified for our son. Nancy came out and explained what was going on and I chewed her ass for allowing the mistake to happen in the first place. Hartley has barely spoken at all. Her crying has become quieter but she’s still crying and it’s as if she has just mentally checked out. She’s still shaking in my arms and there isn’t a single fucking thing I can do in this moment to make her feel better. Our son is missing, he’s gone, and he’s in the custody of a crazy man, possibly two since we don’t know about Mason. There is no longer a need for us to stay here. I’ve already called the guys and they are at our house already and doing all they can to try to find JD and Ethan. The police said they would keep us informed, but I don’t trust them like my brothers, and since they know what I do, they were reluctant to tell us to back off.

“Let’s go, Hart.” I tell her gently. She makes no effort to move, or gives me any sign she even heard me. I find her keys in her pocket and lead her over to her car; I have her door open when she turns to look up at me. Her eyes are lost; they are full of nothing but fear. She looks so broken and it’s killing me.

“Slyde. Please find him.” She speaks so quietly, her eyes desperately pleading with me, begging me to take away the fear and pain consuming her, begging me to bring back the part of her that’s missing.

“I will, Tesoro. I promise I will stop at absolutely nothing to find our son. I will bring him back to you! I swear, Hartley, I will find him.” My eyes stay locked with hers for a few more seconds before I pull her back into my arms and hold her tight. “I will find him, Tesoro.” I drop a kiss on her head, and help her into the car. With the exception of ragged breaths coming from Hart the ride home is silent. She keeps ahold of my hand, but her face is turned toward the window and I know that she is looking for him, praying he will be standing on a corner waving at us as we drive by; I know this because I’m hoping for the same thing.

Pulling up outside the house, I park on the street. The guys have already arrived and cars are parked all over the place. Hartley gets out of the car without me. She walks straight into the house and I follow her silently. I don’t really know what to do, because I don’t know what she needs from me other than to find Ethan. She walks down the hall and straight into Ethan’s bedroom. My heart breaks as I watch her pick up his bear, and then it fucking shatters when she collapses onto the bed sobbing, hugging the bear to her. I start to take a step into the room to her when someone touches my arm. It’s Leia.

“Let me. She just needs to cry, let me be there for her, she needs you to find him. Go. I’ve got her.” Leia urges me gently. I give her a slight nod and leave a kiss on her cheek before heading to my office to see what the guys have discovered.

“There’s no trace of Mason. We have tails at his house, his sister’s house, his mother’s house, nothing. No use of credit cards or bank withdrawals. Two of the guards were paid off and that’s how JD got out. We are pretty sure that Mason picked him up and paid off the guards, but we don’t have any records or proof of that. There is no activity at JD’s property. We got guys there lookin’ again for anything we might have missed. We are checking traffic cameras, trying to see where they went after JD got Ethan. We have a camera shot of a man with a little boy, it’s from across the street, but we are assuming it’s them. We are tracking and looking, but it shows the car turn down an alley, but no one comes in or out the other side. The car was abandoned. Nothing helpful there.” Mack rattles off as soon as I walk through the door of my office.

“FUCK!”

“How’s Hart?” Beamer asks.

“Terrified. She’s barely spoken, and can’t stop crying. I can’t blame her. Hart knows firsthand how evil JD can be. She has experienced exactly what he is capable of, she knows it all, and this is the man that has her son.”

“We will find him man. We’re the best at what we do, we will find him.”

“I know, but that doesn’t offer her any sort of comfort now. Not a god damn fucking bit of comfort.” I sigh, and then get to work trying to track where the son of a bitch took my son. About an hour later, I’m frustrated as hell. Still nothing, not a fucking thing to help us find him, needing to clear my head to look at this differently, I leave to go check on Hartley when I run into her just outside the office door.

“Hey, Tesoro. Do you need anything?”

“My keys.” She states calmly.

“Your keys.” I state back at her.

“Yes, I need my car keys, you still have them.” Her voice even and flat. There is no expression in it at all.

“They are on the counter in the kitchen, Hart, did you need something out of the car?”

“No. I’m going out to look for Ethan.” Her voice is still calm and even. Yet her words take me by complete surprise.

“Tesoro, you’re not going out to look for him.”

“Yes I am.” Her eyes flash with anger.

“It’s too dangerous. JD could be watching the house for all we know and the second you step out, he’ll take you too.

“I don’t give a shit. He has my son, and I am not going to just sit in this house and do nothing! If he’s waiting to take me the second I walk out this door, fine let him have me. At least I will be back with my son!”

“Hart…”

“I’m going!” she yells.

“No, you’re not!” I shout back.

“Yes, Slyde, I am. That’s my son and I have to go get him. You own my heart, Slyde, but Ethan
is
my heart!”

“Hart, I’m not letting you go!” I’m starting to feel more panic take over my body. I can’t handle them both being in danger again.

“Letting me?!?!?” she shouts “You don’t control me, Slyde. It’s not your choice!” she yells again. “I’m his mother! I’m going to find him!!”

“I do control you, right now I do, and I’m not fucking letting you go!” I shout back, fear and panic controlling me in this moment and I regret the words the second they fly out of my mouth, I know that we are both scared, terrified even, and I know it’s worse for Hartley.

SMACK!
her hand flies across my face surprising the hell out of us both. I can’t blame her for doing it, hell I deserve it after what I just said. Hart just stares momentarily before she starts crying harder.

“You promised me!” she screams, “You promised me you would keep him safe! I told you I didn’t matter, Ethan mattered, he’s all that mattered and that he needed to be safe! You promised me you would keep him safe and now he’s missing!!!”

“Hart.” I state softly.

“NO! I’m his Momma, I’m supposed to protect him, keep him safe. I’m supposed to take care of him! I failed him; I trusted you and I failed him! I have to go get him! I have to go find him,” she cries and her fists bounce off my chest. “I have to go save him…I’m his Momma…he’s scared…I have to go…he’s my baby…all alone, scared… he’s just a baby… just a baby… my baby… my baby… I’m his Momma… he’s my baby…” Her hands stop and she finally collapses against me, letting out heart-wrenching sobs. I pull her tighter before lifting her up and carrying her to bed, holding her while she cries herself to sleep. I too let out a few tears at her heartbreak, at my fear for my son, at the helplessness that is consuming me. She’s right. I did promise her I’d keep them safe, she let herself trust me, and I failed. Fuck.

I’m alone when my eyes open, but the weight that has been sitting on my chest since I found out that my son is missing is still there, and added to it, is the guilt of slapping Slyde and blaming him for this. Ethan missing is not his fault; none of this is his fault. He has done everything he could possibly do to keep us safe. I know for a fact that if he knew that JD was free, he would never have let Ethan go to school today, he would have stayed home with the two of us for as long as it took to catch him again. It’s not fair of me to lay so much guilt on him; I know that he is doing everything he can to find Ethan. I know all of this, it’s just that my heart hurts so badly, and I can’t deal with it. I don’t know how to cope. I’m not strong enough to deal with this. I need Slyde. I need to apologize to him. I slowly get out of bed, because every move I make takes more energy than I have. I finally make it to the hallway just outside his office when I hear the voice that makes my heart stop beating from fear and my blood runs cold, as it echoes through the house.

“That’s the only way this works, Cardoane. Her for him. You don’t get both. You don’t get happiness. She’s mine and belongs to me. I decide her fate. You took her from me twice. I fuckin’ want her back. She calls me at 682-985-6372 and I tell her where to meet me. Once I have her, I’ll let the little shit go. She’s followed, tracked or traced they both die. Once she and I are gone, you’ll get a text on where to pick up the little shit.” I hear the phone disconnect.

“FUCK!” Slyde roars. “Hijo de puta! Carajo! Piece of motherfucking shit bastard!”

“Slyde, calm down man.” Beamer tries to reason.

“Fuck you! He wants me to trade my wife for my son! He es un bastado loco if he thinks I’m going to do that!”

“Maybe we can do that. Send her in, get Ethan, and track her to wherever he takes her. Then get him there. He has no way of knowing if we track her phone or not.” Kash states, his voice calm and rational.

“NO! Not gonna happen!” Slyde snaps back with a shout.

Slyde won’t listen to reason, but Kash is right. That’s a good plan, I will do it, but I have to make my break now before Slyde finds out because he will never let me do this. My decision was made the second JD stated the plan. There is no choice or reason to think about it. I will do whatever it takes to save my son. Quietly going back to the bedroom, I slip on my shoes and write a note to Slyde. Then quietly, I sneak through the house, grab my keys and phone and slip out. Thank god my car is parked on the street. Since Slyde’s office is in the back out the house there is a really good chance he won’t hear me leave.

Several blocks away, after I know I’m not being followed, I pull over and call the number.

“I knew you’d call.”

“Me for my son. That’s the deal.”

“Yeah, bitch, that’s the deal.”

“Fine. Where do I meet you?”

“Abandoned warehouse off Third and Rivers.” He hangs up the phone and I throw my car in drive, racing to my destination. I’m almost to my son.